The British government has been found in contempt of Parliament for the first time ever after it refused to publish the full legal advice underpinning its Brexit plan.Theresa May's government lost the critical vote by 311 to 293, a stinging defeat for the Prime Minister at the beginning of a week of votes on issues related to leaving the European Union. The government immediately said it would publish the legal advice, prepared by Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, on Wednesday.
Hours before the vote, May told the Cabinet that "candid" legal advice given to ministers must remain confidential.

House of Commons votes 311 to 293 to approve the privilege motion, finding Ministers in contempt and ordering the immediate publication of the full legal advice on the #Brexit deal. pic.twitter.com/haXVmbH36s

The opposition Labour Party's Brexit spokesman, Keir Starmer, said the defeat was a "badge of shame" for the government. The decision had "huge constitutional and political significance," he told Britain's Press Association.
The unprecedented contempt vote came as senior lawmakers from six parties wrote a joint letter urging House of Commons Speaker John Bercow to launch contempt of Parliament proceedings.

The Government has failed to publish the Attorney General's full and final legal advice on the Brexit deal, as was ordered by Parliament.

We have been left with no option but to write to the Speaker of the House of Commons to ask him to launch proceedings of contempt. pic.twitter.com/LNfUmHg7Tb

Cox had argued it was not in Britain's national interest to publish the legal advice as he took questions Monday and instead offered a summary. The attorney general insisted that "there is nothing to see here."
During Tuesday's debate, Starmer told the House of Commons that the government was "willfully refusing to comply" with the binding order issued by lawmakers.
"That is contempt," he said, adding that the government had ignored the motion for months.
A day of parliamentary defeats for UK government
The day started badly for May's government when a top EU legal adviser ruled that the UK could unilaterally halt the Brexit process.
In an opinion prepared for the European Court of Justice, the advocate general said the UK did not need the approval of the 27 remaining EU member states to halt the two-year countdown triggered invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. The UK government had fought the case, saying it had no intention of stopping the Brexit process.

In the House of Commons later, the government suffered another defeat when lawmakers approved an amendment that aims to give Parliament greater say if lawmakers reject May's Brexit deal next week. It would mean that Parliament could support a soft Brexit -- where the UK would remain in or closely aligned with the EU's customs union and single market, or even a second EU referendum.
After the parliamentary defeats, May opened a five-day Commons debate on her Brexit plans. She urged lawmakers to support her proposals when they come to vote December 11. "This argument has gone on long enough," May told the House of Commons. "It is corrosive to our politics. And life depends on compromise."
She added that compromise was necessary to "bring the country together."
"I know there are some in this House and in the country who would prefer a closer relationship with the European Union than the one I'm proposing, indeed who would prefer the relationship that we currently have and want another referendum," she said.
"The hard truth is that we will not settle this issue and bring our country together that way, and I ask them to think what it would say to the 52% who came out to vote Leave in many cases for the first time in decades if their decision were ignored."
Despite May's strong stance, her plans are widely expected to be rejected, and with only 16 weeks to go before the Article 50 deadline on March 29 -- when Britain officially leaves the EU -- options are running out.